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It’s been over 100 days since Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, and now in the midst of disaster relief efforts, the island is confronted by the impact of the new tax bill passed by the GOP last month. Congressmember Nydia Velazquez calls it an “economic hurricane” because it screws over a slowly recovering Puerto Rico.

Now companies in Puerto Rico are confronted with a decision to begin paying this tax or move their business elsewhere. Given multinational corporations’ general aversion to paying taxes, and the fact that Puerto Rico’s infrastructure was decimated in the hurricane, it’s likely that the island will lose thousands of jobs, throwing the population into even deeper poverty. Without medical supply manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies, two of the largest employers on the island, over 200,000 Puerto Ricans will become unemployed, increasing the 10.6% unemployment rate, which already is more than double the U.S. average.

Even before Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico was grappling with a $70 billion debt, and Puerto Ricans were leaving the island to seek employment and shelter elsewhere. Gretchen Velez, who was a college student and had never left Puerto Rico prior to the hurricane, is now one of 22 new workers at Dakota Provisions and earns $10 an hour deboning turkey in frigid South Dakota. Many low-wage factories in the U.S. are recruiting on the island, covering the cost of flights until workers can pay them back from their low-salary jobs. U.S.- based companies are capitalizing on the urgency of unemployment while Puerto Rican lives are in the hands of the U.S. government.

As feminists and activists, we know that increased unemployment and poverty exacerbated by climate disasters disproportionately impacts women. Before Hurricane Maria, 43.5% of Puerto Ricans were living in poverty. In Puerto Rico, as in many Latin American and Caribbean countries, low-income women are often employed in low-wage caregiving positions through the informal economy, without benefits or workers’ protections. Now dealing with the aftermath of the hurricane and the impending impact of the tax bill, migration to the island is likely to become increasingly feminized as women make up an even larger proportion of migrants seeking jobs on the mainland.

Puerto Ricans deserve more than what the U.S. government and corporate America is providing them. This economic impasse means that Puerto Ricans will likely continue relocating as climate refugees to the U.S. mainland, accepting low-wage jobs and poor living conditions and leaving the Puerto Rican economy to fall to pieces. Congress claims there will be a comprehensive relief package introduced in 2018, but given how slow recovery efforts have been, I am doubtful that full recovery will happen soon.

Amanda R. Matos, proud Nuyorican from the Bronx, NY, is the co-founder of the WomanHOOD Project, a Bronx-based youth-led organization for young women of color. She is dedicated to empowering communities of color through capacity building, political education, and civic engagement. Amanda has led community organizing and policy initiatives at Planned Parenthood of New York City and Girls for Gender Equity. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government as a Sheila C. Johnson Fellow. On her free time, Amanda eats doughnuts and watches great TV shows like Jane the Virgin and Blackish.

Amanda R. Matos is a community organizer and reproductive justice activist from the Bronx, NY.

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